Add A Touring Musician...?

[Walter_Langkowski]

Was just asking another dude about this possibility and I figured I'd throw it up on here and just have a nice discussion about something mild... :Spin:


Back in the day I went to the Milwaukee Summerfest with a couple of friends of mine. In case you are not familiar with this, this is basically a massive outdoor carnival/musical festival/eating/drinking/getting stoned extravanganza that happens every year in Milwaukee in the middle of Summer for about two solid weeks. During this sheebang they draw all sorts of national touring acts, mostly being comprised of the pop variety. The park that this is usually held at has the Marcus Ampitheater in it, which is a major outdoor venue. So it is a really interesting setting with multiple stages to enjoy whatever act might float your boat at the time.

Well when we went (1994), we bought tickets to see Yes for $10 on the first day, and for the next day our stubs allowed us to get in the next day and get free lawn tickets to see Metallica/Suicidal Tendencies/Danzig. Free was a pretty good price to be paying for that show :Spin:

Yes were touring on their "reunion" album Talk with the classic OU812 lineup (notably Trevor Rabin on guitar-what a talent!) So there were five members of Yes, all very talented musicians. But what was new (at the time) for me was seeing a sixth member, who was introduced by Jon Anderson as "our helper Billy Sherwood". Billy was still on the stage, but over to the right and slightly more towards the back of the stage as to not overshadow any of the official members. Sherwood played rythym guitar, keyboards, and sung backing vocal harmonies with the rest of the band. I thought that was such a cool idea, get somebody who is still not a member of the group but pay him to tour and present the songs a lot closer to their actual album versions.

So the basic point of my post is: as a fan, would you be open to the idea of adding an extra touring musician to certain bands to create the sound of the albums live better? As I mentioned already, I think it is a cool idea. And the band that first comes to my mind as a perfect candidate would be Rush. If you have ever seen Rush, they are a phenomenally tallented group with a massive catalog of classic songs. But it always bothers me a bit when they pull out a song with all sorts of backing taped keyboard parts, but all you see is guitar, bass, and drums being played by the band.

What do you guys think?

 

[Jean-Pierre]

Rush should only be Geddy, Neil and Alex. A backing member just wouldn't look right.

But for many other bands, a touring member works fine, like Maiden's live keyboardist, etc.

 

[Wyvern]

official members. Sherwood played rythym guitar, keyboards, and sung backing vocal harmonies with the rest of the band. I thought that was such a cool idea, get somebody who is still not a member of the group but pay him to tour and present the songs a lot closer to their actual album versions.

band that first comes to my mind as a perfect candidate would be Rush

backing taped keyboard parts, but all you see is guitar, bass, and drums being played by the band.

What do you guys think?

I don't like Yes if is not Howe/Anderson/Squier/White/Wakeman . They came here without Wakeman so I skip them. Sherwood was with the band and I think he added an extra juice to the band nevertheless.

As for Rush is a mixed feeling, I like Rush as a power trio, but I do understand
your point regarding the keyboards, and I wouldn't mind to have a backstage keyboardist to let Lee free to play bass and sing.

Musicians like Satriani and Vai carry extra "muscle" on their live presentations, even if they do everything in the album. Black Sabbath had keys as support since Ozzy era even if there was no keyboardist in the band officially until Geoff Nichols step in. Helloween had a keyboardist live too and many bands add musicians, background singers etc.

I see no wrongdoing in general terms.

 

[ElectricWiz]

Actually, it's so fun to watch Geddy sing, play the keyboards, AND the bass pedals at the same time.....I wouldn't want to see that change. It's hard enough to play guitar and sing on a complicated rhythms. That bastard gets all fours going AND sings. Good stuff.

I've seen Rush twice, and marveled both times at the fullness of their sound.

 

[ElectricWiz]

Incidentally. You probably know this already, but "bass pedals" are literally a series of pedals on the ground that allow Geddy to play bass notes with his feet. Like a church organ. Just in case that was confusing. Heh.

 

[Walter_Langkowski]

Incidentally. You probably know this already, but "bass pedals" are literally a series of pedals on the ground that allow Geddy to play bass notes with his feet. Like a church organ. Just in case that was confusing. Heh.

Yeah, I know. Geddy is just an unbelievable talent all around!

But the sad fact of all us humans is that we only have four limbs and one mouth to present ourselves musically. I've always thought that even if there wasn't a touring keyboardist for Rush for a whole show, that they would at least set aside a 30 minute block of their set. Then we could see a lot of their classics that have more of a keyboard or electric piano saturation to them.

I am actually very fond of a lot of their material on "Presto", which has a very organic feel to it and had their producer Rupert Hine playing a lot of the piano parts, such as "Red Tide" and "Available Light". I think it would be so much more realistic to see a fourth member on stage for songs like those.

 

[Jean-Pierre]

I am actually very fond of a lot of their material on "Presto", which has a very organic feel to it and had their producer Rupert Hine playing a lot of the piano parts, such as "Red Tide" and "Available Light". I think it would be so much more realistic to see a fourth member on stage for songs like those.

The single from that album, "The Pass," is one of the greatest songs ever written. They play it all the time though.

I actually like to hear their work from "Signals" and "Grace Under Pressure" with less electronic saturation, so I prefer the recent live versions.

 

[ElectricWiz]

Yeah, the Pass is great. I saw them for the first time on that tour. Truth be told, I like the keyboard years too, A LOT. Hold your fire and all that. A person need not own it all, but the greates hits package that covers those years is good from start to finish.

Again, The Pass rules! Very moving song.

 

[Walter_Langkowski]

"The Pass" is a classic too! I'd put it as my third fave behind the two I listed from "Presto".

Til this day I have no idea why that album gets dogged out as much as it does...

 

[Jean-Pierre]

Til this day I have no idea why that album gets dogged out as much as it does...

I blame the rabbits.

 

[AngelWitch73]

I think having an additional musician is a good idea if it is going to help improve the live sound of a band. If it changes their sound though because the guy adds something else to the music then it´s not good.

 

[Bryant]

If it makes a band sound better I am all for it. I am a bit of a purist in many aspects, but there is so much overdubbing and adding in other instruments in the studio to give a full and strong production and song presentation, offering other musicians for live shows helps more than it hurts most of the time.


Bryant

 

[Mxgonzo]

I would rather see A live musician up there with the band than have taped music parts.
One time I saw Van Halen and on some of the keyboard tunes I think they did that. I didn't see anyone off to the sides of the stage playing keys. If I want to hear pre-recorded music I'll pop in the cds otherwise I'm paying to hear LIVE music.